Gravel

Gravel is a gravity-affected block found in the Overworld and the Nether. It is a source of flint, which has a chance to drop when gravel is broken.

Obtaining[]

Natural generation[]

Gravel is generated in disks in rivers, shallow oceans and small pools of water; in windswept gravelly hills biomes covering most of the surface; underwater covering the bottom of sufficiently deep rivers and normal, cold, and frozen ocean biomes, as well as their deep variants; and in the form of strips in stony shores.

Gravel can generate in the Overworld in the form of ore features. Gravel attempts to generate 14 times per chunk in ore features of size 0-160, at all levels and in all biomes. It can replace stone, granite, andesite, diorite, polished granite‌^{[BE only]}, polished andesite‌^{[BE only]}, polished diorite‌^{[BE only]}, tuff‌^{[JE only]}, and deepslate‌^{[JE only]}.

Gravel can also generate as part of cold ocean ruins and trail ruins.

In the nether, gravel generates naturally in layers along the shores of the lava sea, in all biomes except crimson and warped forests. The layers are one block deep in nether wastes, and 3-5 blocks deep in soul sand valley and basalt deltas.

Ore features of gravel in the nether attempt to replace netherrack 2 times per chunk in blobs of size 0-160, from levels 5 to 41‌^{[JE only]} or 36‌^{[BE only]}, in all Nether biomes except basalt deltas.

Breaking[]

Gravel can be broken using any tool, but a shovel is the quickest. When broken, it has a 10% chance of dropping flint instead of the gravel itself. The flint received can be controlled with enchantments: Silk Touch removes the chance of dropping flint; Fortune increases the chance to 14% at the level I, 25% at level II, and 100%^{[needs testing]} at level III.^[1][2]

Block	Gravel
Hardness	0.6
Tool
Breaking time[A]
Default	0.9
Wooden	0.45
Stone	0.25
Iron	0.15
Diamond	0.15
Netherite	0.1
Golden	0.1

If gravel falls onto a non-full block, it drops as an item and does not drop flint.^[3][4]

Mob loot[]

An enderman holding gravel always drops the block upon death.

Bartering[]

Piglins may barter 8-16 gravel when given a gold ingot.

Usage[]

If the supporting block below a block of gravel is removed, it falls until it lands on the next available block. More specifically, the gravel block turns into a "falling block" entity, which is affected by gravity; when the falling block lands on a block with a solid top surface, it becomes a block again. More information about the falling block entity are available in the main article listed above.

When gravel falls on a player or mob, it can engulf the head, resulting in suffocation inside gravel until destroying the block, moving out of it, or dying. If falling gravel lands in a space occupied by a non-solid block (such as torches, rails, or redstone dust) or non-full block (such as slabs or soul sand^[5]), it breaks and turns into a gravel item. Gravel falls slowly through a cobweb until it passes completely through, or until it touches any block, at which point it drops and becomes a gravel item.

Gravel can be placed on a non-solid block without falling.

Bamboo can be placed and grown on gravel.

Crafting ingredient[]

Name	Ingredients	Crafting recipe	Description
Coarse Dirt	Dirt + Gravel	4
Concrete Powder	Matching Dye + Sand + Gravel	8888888888888888	Red sand cannot be used in place of sand.[6]
White Concrete Powder or Blue Concrete Powder or Brown Concrete Powder or Black Concrete Powder	Bone Meal or Lapis Lazuli or Cocoa Beans or Ink Sac + Sand + Gravel	8888	‌[Bedrock Edition and Minecraft Education only]

Trading[]

Novice-level fletcher villagers have a 50%‌^{[Bedrock Edition only]} or ²⁄₃‌^{[Java Edition only]} chance to buy 10 gravel and one emerald for 10 flint as part of their trade.

Note blocks[]

Gravel can be placed under note blocks to produce snare drum sounds.

Sounds[]

Java Edition:

Sound	Subtitles	Source	Description	Resource location	Translation key	Volume	Pitch	Attenuation distance
	Block broken	Blocks	Once the block has broken	block.gravel.break	subtitles.block.generic.break	1.0	0.8	16
	Block placed	Blocks	When the block is placed	block.gravel.place	subtitles.block.generic.place	1.0	0.8	16
	Block breaking	Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	block.gravel.hit	subtitles.block.generic.hit	0.25	0.5	16
	None[sound 1]	Entity-Dependent	Falling on the block with fall damage	block.gravel.fall	None[sound 1]	0.5	0.75	16
	Footsteps	Entity-Dependent	Walking on the block	block.gravel.step	subtitles.block.generic.footsteps	0.15	1.0	16

Bedrock Edition:

Sound	Source	Description	Resource location	Volume	Pitch
	Blocks	Once the block has broken	dig.gravel	1.0	0.8-1.0
	Blocks	When the block is placed	dig.gravel	1.0	0.8-1.0
	Blocks	While the block is in the process of being broken	hit.gravel	0.17	0.5
	Players	Falling on the block with fall damage	fall.gravel	0.4	1.0
	Players	Walking on the block	step.gravel	0.3	1.0
	Players	Jumping from the block	jump.gravel	0.1	1.0
	Players	Falling on the block without fall damage	land.gravel	0.17	1.0

Data values[]

ID[]

Java Edition:

Name	Identifier	Form	Block tags	Translation key
Gravel	gravel	Block & Item	bamboo_plantable_on enderman_holdable lush_ground_replaceable‌ mineable/shovel	block.minecraft.gravel

Bedrock Edition:

Name	Identifier	Numeric ID	Form	Item ID[i 1]	Translation key
Gravel	gravel	13	Block & Giveable Item[i 2]	Identical[i 3]	tile.gravel.name

Falling block entity[]

History[]

Java Edition Classic
May 21, 2009					Notch shows interest in adding gravel.
May 23, 2009					Notch says he accomplished adding sand. This claim may also extend to gravel.
0.0.14a					Added gravel.
					Gravel behaves similarly to sand, which was also added during this update.
					Rather than falling by turning into a falling block entity, gravel instantly appears at the lowest point it can go when placed above an air block, without any sort of falling animation. This behavior that lasted until the Seecret Friday 1 update, in Infdev.
					Map editors can now be used to create floating gravel, although the server crashes if the gravel is affected from its state.
0.0.15a (Multiplayer Test 1)					The texture of gravel has been changed.
0.0.23a					A glitch occurring at this time allows players to raise the height of a fluid block by placing gravel over it. The gravel stays suspended in mid-air until it is broken. When broken, a fluid block corresponding to the type below the gravel appears where the block was. The suspended fluid block remains immobile until a block was placed next to it, causing a flood.
Java Edition Indev
20100219					Gravel now has a 10% chance of dropping flint.
Java Edition Infdev
20100227-1					Gravel has been removed during map tests.[7]
20100413					Gravel has been re-added.
20100617-2					Gravel now generates as ore features underground, along with dirt, for more varied caves.
20100618					The gravel now turns into an entity while falling, which makes them fall more smoothly and realistically.
Java Edition Alpha
v1.2.0_01					Some soul sand is replaced by gravel in the Nether.
Java Edition Beta
1.2					FallingSand entities now behave better in multiplayer.
1.8		Pre-release			Terrain generation has been changed, removing gravel beaches.
					Gravel now generates as disks near water.
Java Edition
1.0.0		Beta 1.9 Prerelease 5			The texture of gravel has been changed.
1.3.1		12w21a			The texture of gravel has been changed again.
		12w22a			Gravel is now able to be used in the trading system: buying flint costs 1 emerald and 10 gravel.
1.4.2		12w38a			Gravel now has new sounds when being walked on.
1.7.2		13w36a			Ocean floors are now made completely of gravel, instead of a mixture of dirt, sand and clay.
					Added the gravelly mountains biome (then known as mutated extreme hills), where the surface is covered in several-block-deep layers of gravel.
1.8		14w25a			Gravel can now be used to craft coarse dirt.
1.10		16w20a			Falling dust particles for unsupported gravel have been added.
1.12		17w06a			Gravel is now used to craft concrete powder.
1.13		18w09a			Gravel now generates in ocean ruins.
1.14		18w43a			The texture of gravel has been changed.
		19w14a			Soul sand and gravel now generate around lava sea level instead of between y level 60 and 65.[8]
1.16		20w07a			Gravel now has a 5⁄109 (~4.59%) chance of being given by the new piglins when bartering, in a stack size of 4–12, making it renewable.
		20w09a			Gravel now has a 10⁄113 (~8.82%) chance of being given by piglins when bartering, in a stack size of 1–5.
		20w20a			Gravel now has a 40⁄423 (~9.46%) chance of being given by piglins when bartering, in a stack size of 8–16.
1.16.2		20w28a			Gravel now has a 40⁄459 (~8.71%) chance of being given by piglins when bartering, in a stack size of 8–16.
1.17		21w06a			The height limit was expanded down to Y=-64. Gravel blobs are temporary generating from Y=-64 instead of Y=0.
		21w07a			Gravel ore features no longer generate below Y=0, but more common than in pre 21w06a versions.
		21w15a			All the changes to gravel blob generation in the previous 1.17 snapshots have been reverted, but they can be re-enabled with the Caves & Cliffs Prototype Data Pack.
1.18		Experimental Snapshot 1			Gravel blob once again generates the way it did in the 1.17 snapshots without the use of a data pack.
		experimental snapshot 4			Strips of gravel sometimes generate in stone shores and stony peaks.
		21w37a			Strips of Gravel no longer generate in stony peaks.
					Strips of Gravel in stone shores are now larger.
		21w40a			Blobs of gravel are once again able to generate below Y=0.
					Increased the number of gravel blobs.
1.20		23w12a			Gravel can now be created after brushing suspicious gravel.
					Gravel now generates in trail ruins.
		23w16a			The amount of gravel in trail ruins has been tweaked.
Pocket Edition Alpha
Pre-release					Added gravel. It is currently unobtainable.
v0.1.0					The texture of gravel icon in the inventory has been added.
v0.2.0					The textures of gravel and icon in the inventory have been changed.
					Gravel is now obtainable in both Survival and Creative mode.
v0.4.0					The texture of gravel icon in the inventory has been changed.
v0.5.0					The texture of gravel icon in the inventory has been changed, once again.
v0.6.0					The texture of gravel icon in the inventory has been changed, once again.
					Gravel is now affected by gravity.
v0.8.0		build 1			The texture of gravel has been changed.
					The inventory icon of gravel is now rendered block instead of texture.
		build 8			Falling gravel now drops a resource when landing on a non-solid block.
v0.9.0		build 1			Terrain generation has been changed, removing gravel beaches.
					Gravel now generates as disks in or near water, and also completely comprises ocean floors.
					Gravel no longer falls when generated.
					Gravel now appears in villages.
v0.10.0		build 1			Falling dust particles for unsupported gravel have been added.
v0.11.0		build 1			Gravel no longer generates as a village path.
					Added the gravelly mountains biome (then known as mutated extreme hills), where the surface is covered in several-block-deep layers of gravel.
v0.12.1		build 1			Gravel now generates in the Nether.
Pocket Edition
1.0.4		alpha 1.0.4.0			10 gravel can now be used to trade with fletcher villagers for 6-10 flint.
1.1.0		alpha 1.1.0.0			Gravel is now used to craft concrete powder.
Bedrock Edition
1.2.0		beta 1.2.0.2			Gravel can now be used to craft coarse dirt.
1.4.0		beta 1.2.20.1			Gravel now generates in ocean ruins.
1.10.0		beta 1.10.0.3			The texture of gravel has been changed.
1.11.0		beta 1.11.0.4			Trading has been changed, fletcher villagers now have a 50% chance to buy 10 gravel and one emerald for 10 flint as part of their first tier trade.
1.16.0		beta 1.16.0.57			Gravel now has a 10⁄106 (9.43%) chance of being given by piglins when bartering, in a stack size of 8–16, making it renewable.
					Gravel now generates below lava sea layer in the Nether.
1.18.0		beta 1.18.0.21			Gravel now generates as expected.
					Blobs of gravel are now expected to be once again able to generate below Y=0., but they don't.
					Increased the number of gravel blobs.
		beta 1.18.0.24			Gravel ore features are now able to generate below Y=0.[9]
Legacy Console Edition
TU1	CU1	1.00	Patch 1	1.0.1	Added gravel.
TU3					The texture of gravel has been changed.
TU9					The texture of gravel has been changed, again.
		1.90			The texture of gravel has been changed, once again.
New Nintendo 3DS Edition
0.1.0					Added gravel.

Data history[]

Java Edition
1.13		17w47a			Prior to The Flattening, this block's numeral ID was 13.

Issues[]

Issues relating to "Gravel" are maintained on the bug tracker. Report issues there.

Trivia[]

• Explosions launch falling gravel.
• If a player stands on a stack of sand or gravel, and the stack falls onto a non-solid block, the player falls fast enough to take damage or even die.
• Gravel often falls into caves, making a mock dead end. If a player encounters a gravel dead-end while mining, removing the gravel may reveal additional passageways.

Gallery[]

• 

  A naturally generated gravel blob as seen in a cave.

• 

  A naturally generated gravel floor as seen in an ocean.

• 

  A gravel blob as seen in the Nether.

• 

  Gravel shown to be not affected by gravity if there is a non-solid block (except fire) underneath it.

• 

  Gravel floating in midair in a windswept gravelly hills biome.

• 

  Naturally generated gravel blob in a cave.

• 

  Gravel hanging above the lava sea, without any support below. Viewed in Spectator mode.

• 

  A disk of gravel by a shoreline that extends partially onto land.

• 

  A strip of gravel in a stony shore biome.

Java Edition[]

• 

  A gravel beach before Java Edition Beta 1.8.

• 

  A shorter gravel beach before Java Edition Beta 1.8.

Bedrock Edition[]

• 

  Gravel in early versions of Pocket Edition shown to be not affected by gravity.

References[]

External Links[]

• Block of the Week: Gravel – Minecraft.net on March 23, 2018